Just days before TikTok was banned in the United States on Jan. 18, a trend circulated around the app where influencers admitted to not always staying truthful to their followers. The trend was created when influencers thought TikTok was going to be permanently banned in America and wanted to come clean with their followers.
Influencers like Meredith Duxbury, Charli D’Amelio and more have all come forward about lying to their followers at some point in their TikTok careers. This ultimately led to fans feeling upset that their favorite influencers have not always been transparent with them.
Kaeli Mae

Kaeli Mae is a creator on TikTok who is known for her home restock, get ready with me and cleaning videos. Her home restock videos featured a pantry and fridge restock, where she would film herself restocking with snacks, drinks, groceries etc.
Many of her fridge restock videos included specialty ice cubes with various ice cube trays. Mae would use several different ice cube trays to make ice cubes ranging in size and inclusions.
On Jan. 16, Mae uploaded a video on TikTok admitting to never using any of the specialty ice cubes she made in her previous videos. She later received backlash from fans saying that she was wasting products while also tricking followers into thinking they should also be using these specialty ice cubes.
Mae uploaded a response video shortly after to explain that she never wasted the ice cubes and that other people in her house would use them.
“I do apologize I meant that to be silly and harmless and I feel like it was taken in a way that I did not intend it to.”
– Mae via TikTok.
Lexi Hidalgo

Lexi Hidalgo is another TikTok influencer who has an ongoing series on her page called “Coffee Talk,” where she shares inspirational advice while drinking coffee. She also posts at-home workout videos.
On Jan. 16, Hidalgo confessed in a TikTok video that not only does she not drink the coffee in her “Coffee Talk” videos, but she only does half of the workouts that she posts on her page.
This left fans questioning why she would choose to create a series that is based around drinking coffee if she never liked it. Fans also commented under her video that they felt betrayed by the workout videos since they tried to follow them because of Hidalgo.
Hidalgo also made a seven-minute long response video on TikTok where she apologized for lying and said that the coffee was never wasted because she would give it to other people. In the same video, she also explained she only filmed herself doing a portion of the workouts for the videos and would do the exercises on her own time.
Meredith Duxbury

Meredith Duxbury is a fashion and beauty influencer who gained a following on TikTok a few years ago for posting makeup videos where she would apply a lot of foundation and smear it on her face to somehow create a flawless makeup look in the end.
When Duxbury first gained attention, she claimed that smearing a lot of foundation onto her face with her hands helped her create a perfect base for her makeup. A few years later, Duxbury admitted in a video recently that she would wipe off a lot of the foundation she used in her videos.
Although Duxbury never created a response video, many fans want an explanation from her since her foundation usage and application played a big part in her viral videos.
Charli D’Amelio

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, TikTok creator Charli D’Amelio gained millions of followers from her dancing videos. At the time, 16-year-old D’Amelio was caught vaping in a video, which sparked controversy for her young age.
Fans dismissed the vaping allegations by saying she was using an “anxiety pen”, which is a nicotine-free vape that is used to reduce anxiety. Five years later, D’Amelio created a video that stated it was a vape she was using in the old video, and she still to this day doesn’t know who came up with the “anxiety pen” defense.
How do you feel about these influencer confessions? Let us know on X or Instagram @VALLEYmag!
Related
TikTok’s Struggle for survival
What’s With All The Pajama Drama?
Is Noah Beck the Noah Centineo of 2024?